Making the Connection

abductee: Someone who believes that he or she has been taken away by deception or force against his/her will.
alien: A being or living creature from another planet or world.
anomalous: Something strange and unusual that deviates from what is considered normal. From the Greek anomalos, meaning uneven.
archaeologist: A person who scientifically examines old ruins or artifacts such as the remains of buildings, pottery, graves, tools, and all other relevant material in order to study ancient cultures.
astronomy: The scientific study of the of the workings of the universe—of stars, planets, their positions, sizes, composition, movement behavior. Via the Old French and Latin from Greek astronomia, meaning literally star-arranging.
conspiracy: An agreement or plot between two or more people to commit an illegal or subversive action.
contactee: Someone who believes to have been or is in contact with an alien from another planet.
extraterrestrial: Something or someone originating or coming from beyond Earth, outside of Earth's atmosphere.
foo fighter: A term coined by pilots who reported sightings of unconventional aircraft that appeared as nocturnal lights during World War II. A popular cartoon character of the time, Smokey Stover, often said "Where there's foo there's fire" and it became the saying to describe the strange phenomena.
hieroglyphics: The writing system of ancient Egypt that uses symbols or pictures to signify sounds, objects, or concepts. Can also refer to any writing or symbols that are difficult to decipher.
Homo sapiens: Mankind or humankind, the species of modern human beings.
hypothesis: A theory or assumption that needs further exploration, but which is used as a tentative explanation until further data confirms or denies it.
intergalactic: Something that is located, or is moving, between two or more galaxies.
mortician: An undertaker or one who prepares dead bodies for burial and funerals. Formed from the Latin stem mors, death and the English ician.
phenomena: (plural of phenomenon) Strange, extraordinary, unusual or even miraculous events, happenings or persons or things. From the Greek phainomenon, that which appears, from the past participle of phainein, to bring to light.
pulsar: A star generally believed to be a neutron star and that appears to pulse as it briefly emits bursts of visible radiation such as radio waves and x-rays.
semidivine: Possessing similar or some of the characteristics, abilities, or powers normally attributed to a deity and/or existing on a higher spiritual level or plane than common mortals yet not completely divine.

telepathic transfer: The transferring of thoughts from one person to another.
theory of evolution: The biological theory of the complex process of living organisms, how they change and evolve from one generation to another or over many generations.
UFO: Literally an unidentified flying object, although the term is often used by some to refer to an alien spacecraft.
UFOlogist: Someone who investigates the reports and sightings of unidentified flying objects.

Chapter 14: Making the Connection

views updated

Making the Connection

abductee: Someone who believes that he or she has been taken away by deception or force against his/her will.
alien: A being or living creature from another planet or world.
anomalous: Something strange and unusual that deviates from what is considered normal. From the Greek anomalos, meaning uneven.
archaeologist: A person who scientifically examines old ruins or artifacts such as the remains of buildings, pottery, graves, tools, and all other relevant material in order to study ancient cultures.
astronomy: The scientific study of the of the workings of the universe—of stars, planets, their positions, sizes, composition, movement behavior. Via the Old French and Latin from Greek astronomia, meaning literally star-arranging.
conspiracy: An agreement or plot between two or more people to commit an illegal or subversive action.
contactee: Someone who believes to have been or is in contact with an alien from another planet.
extraterrestrial: Something or someone originating or coming from beyond Earth, outside of Earth's atmosphere.
foo fighter: A term coined by pilots who reported sightings of unconventional aircraft that appeared as nocturnal lights during World War II. A popular cartoon character of the time, Smokey Stover, often said "Where there's foo there's fire" and it became the saying to describe the strange phenomena.
hieroglyphics: The writing system of ancient Egypt that uses symbols or pictures to signify sounds, objects, or concepts. Can also refer to any writing or symbols that are difficult to decipher.
Homo sapiens: Mankind or humankind, the species of modern human beings.
hypothesis: A theory or assumption that needs further exploration, but which is used as a tentative explanation until further data confirms or denies it.
intergalactic: Something that is located, or is moving, between two or more galaxies.
mortician: An undertaker or one who prepares dead bodies for burial and funerals. Formed from the Latin stem mors, death and the English ician.
phenomena: (plural of phenomenon) Strange, extraordinary, unusual or even miraculous events, happenings or persons or things. From the Greek phainomenon, that which appears, from the past participle of phainein, to bring to light.
pulsar: A star generally believed to be a neutron star and that appears to pulse as it briefly emits bursts of visible radiation such as radio waves and x-rays.
semidivine: Possessing similar or some of the characteristics, abilities, or powers normally attributed to a deity and/or existing on a higher spiritual level or plane than common mortals yet not completely divine.

telepathic transfer: The transferring of thoughts from one person to another.
theory of evolution: The biological theory of the complex process of living organisms, how they change and evolve from one generation to another or over many generations.
UFO: Literally an unidentified flying object, although the term is often used by some to refer to an alien spacecraft.
UFOlogist: Someone who investigates the reports and sightings of unidentified flying objects.

Gale Encyclopedia of the Unusual and Unexplained